In the past, storage of waste including garbage and other materials in landfills has created problems. As rain falls on the top of the piled-up garbage and other materials, those materials become wet and create leachate from the rain water and the materials which have been "leached" out of the garbage. This leachate generally contains many of the undesirable toxic materials that were contained in the waste. Old landfills were placed into gravel pits or other open areas that were already excavated into the earth. These gravel pits were especially undesirable because the water from the rain falling down carried toxic materials from the landfill materials, reaching and contaminating the aquafer line underneath the gravel bed. The toxic materials that are carried into the aquafer from the landfill garbage have created huge environmental problems in our water table, sometimes requiring remediation.
As many of the landfill sites have been placed next to riverbeds throughout the entire United States, the leachate which is produced from the rain in combination with the landfill materials has flown into the rivers, which are the water intake sources for many of America's largest cities.
Modern day landfills have been placed on non-porous clay beds lined with heavy non-porous liner materials in order to alleviate the problems of leachate draining directly into our waterways. However, as the earth shifts, these clay beds experience fissures and other forms of cracks therein. Consequently, although the modern day landfills are not nearly as offensive as the old-time gravel pit bed landfills, they are nevertheless still very dangerous to the environment. Some of the dangers which become a problem include noxious fumes and odors, scavenger birds, and rodents, all of which have the potential to cause various health hazards.
Therefore, it would be of great advantage to the environment to create an odor free, water tight, leak proof, waste storage containment cell for storing our waste in an environmentally correct storage situation.
Furthermore, it would be of great advantage to provide such a storage containment system which will allow us to try and identify the stored materials in their respective discrete containers in case those materials may have a use for some industry in the future. The containment storage units would be advantageously located so that they may be retrieved at a later date.